Should a Woman Act More Like a Man to Succeed at Work?

New DDI research explores leadership differences between men and women and makes the case for gender diversity in the workplace.

Monday, March 07, 2016

Pittsburgh—Women comprise more than half the workforce. Yet, less than 20 percent of C-suite executives are women and only five percent of CEOs are women. To help answer why there are not more women in the top ranks of leadership, scientists at Development Dimensions International (DDI), the global leadership development consultancy, released two research studies aimed at finding the answers. The first, Ready-Now Leaders: Cultivating Women in Leadership to Meet Tomorrow’s Business Challenges by DDI and The Conference Board, identifies “confidence” as one of the few but significant leadership differences between the sexes. The research also provides a snapshot view and analysis of gender diversity across countries and industries. DDI’s High-Resolution Leadership study reviewed true assessment data from 10,000 global leaders and found no difference in the battle of the sexes for leadership skills. Men and women equally qualified in business drivers around hard- and soft-business skills—with neither gender scoring high. However, the study did identify three personality differences—inquisitiveness, sensitivity and impulsiveness—between the two sexes.

To get ahead, should a woman act more like a man at work? “The quick answer is no—except when it comes to confidence,” said Tacy M. Byham, Ph.D., DDI CEO. “Women need to do a better job of declaring themselves and becoming their own advocates—speaking and acting confidently and mentally promoting themselves to a future-focused role. With this mindset, our own behaviors change. And, a woman’s impact is strengthened and improves her ability to get that seat at the table.” Combined findings from the research include:

Fact 1: Women are less confident and less likely to rate themselves as highly effective leaders compared to men. Men highly self-rate their own leadership skills and their ability to tackle management and business challenges. Only 30 percent of women rate themselves in the top 10 percent of leaders, in comparison to 37 percent of men. At the senior level, 63 percent of men rate themselves as highly-effective leaders compared to only 49 percent of women. Women were less likely to have completed international assignments, to have led across countries or geographically dispersed teams, all of which make up important development opportunities. Leaders who had access to global and more visible experiences are more likely to advance.

Fact 2: Business drivers comparing men and women yield no significant differences. Business drivers examined include: Building high-performance cultures; engaging employees; cultivating a customer-focused culture; creating alignment and accountability; enhancing organizational talent; building strategic partnerships and relationships, driving process innovation and driving efficiency. “The reality is we tend to focus too much on differences which are actually few and far between,” said Richard S. Wellins, Ph.D., DDI Senior Vice President and study co-author. “The disparity in gender diversity has little to do with competence levels.”

Fact 3: Considerable personality gaps exist between the sexes in inquisitiveness, sensitivity and impulsiveness. The research shows that men are 16 percent more inquisitive than women, possibly due to their tendency to gravitate towards STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) careers that reinforce inquiry. Women are interpersonally more sensitive than men (13 percent more), which can be an advantage in cultures where leaders are valued for demeanor and interactions with others. Men also score as more impulsive than women (11 percent more) which could result from the reinforced “just do it” attitude where women are nurtured with the outlook “don’t do it unless you can do it right.”

Fact 4: Organizations with a greater percentage of women in leadership roles perform better financially. Organizations in the top 20 percent of financial performers have 37 percent of their leaders as women. “When it comes to leadership, gender shouldn’t be an issue, but it is—a business issue,” said Byham. “Encouraging gender diversity in leadership ranks leads to more diversity of thought prompting improved problem solving and increased business benefits.” Organizations with women in at least 30 percent of leadership roles are 12 times more likely to be in the top 20 percent of financial performers. Organizations in the bottom 20 percent have only 19 percent of their leaders as women. “DDI research shows that when women occupy top leadership spots it pays dividends to the bottom-line in the form of increased revenue and profits,” said Byham.

Fact 5: The United States ranks fourth globally in percentage of women leaders. Across the globe, women comprise a lower proportion of leadership roles than their workforce presence, falling short of men by 20 percent. DDI’s Ready-Now Leaders: Cultivating Women in Leadership to Meet Tomorrow’s Business Challenges survey asked 1,528 global HR executives to provide the percentage of their organizations’ leaders that were women. The Philippines placed first with 51 percent of its leaders as women, followed by Thailand at 39 percent. Canada took third place at 37 percent with the U.S. lagging behind in fourth place with 36 percent of its leaders as women. Increasing gender diversity has become an economic priority in countries such as Japan that placed last with 10 percent of its leaders as women. With an increase in Japan’s female employment rate, the country’s workforce would expand by more than eight million people—and its GDP would grow by as much as 13 percent.* Cultural and socioeconomic factors impact the role of women in the workplace. Australia and German are addressing these shortages with legal quotas—further evidence that the need for gender diversity has far greater implications beyond business practices. Whether or not government intervention impacts these numbers, the data indicates that businesses with a sufficient supply of women leaders will continue to be more competitive.

Fact 6: The lowest number of women in leadership roles are in the consumer products, transportation services, computer software, technology, chemicals, energy and utilities, construction, industrial manufacturing and automotive and transport industries (15 to 30 percent of leaders are women). Industries with the highest have more female-dominated workforces and include health care, education and retail industries (43 to 47 percent of leaders are women). Industries with a moderate representation of women leaders include: food, banking and telecommunications services. The number of women employed and leading in an industry influences the opportunities for women to advance and develop and has implications for the future. Industries with shortages of women in leadership suffer due to fewer role models and mentors to provide encouragement and guidance to encourage younger generations into leadership roles.

Want more women in leadership roles? Implement these seven practices which have been shown to make a difference driving diversity. “But remember, to be successful, happy, and fulfilled at work and in life, it’s less about acting more like a man or more like a woman,” said Byham. “It is about becoming a best-ever version of yourself.”

About the research:
Global Leadership Forecast 2014 l 2015, Ready-Now Leaders: Cultivating Women in Leadership to Meet Tomorrow’s Business Challenges, produced by DDI and The Conference Board includes survey responses from 13,124 leaders; 1,528 global human resource executives; and 2031 participating organizations. The record-breaking size of the participant pool gave us sufficient sample sizes so that we could look at our findings from many points of view and dissect findings based on diverse perspectives spanning leaders and HR professionals, four leader levels, gender, 48 countries across all regions, 32 major industry categories and multinationals versus local corporations.

High-Resolution Leadership report provides both a telescopic and microscopic lens on what drives great leadership performance, and, ultimately, business performance. The data is based on real behaviors observed in DDI’s assessment centers during “day in a life” leadership simulations and the research represents more than a decade of details from more than 15,000 candidates being considered for leadership roles ranging from frontline to the C-suite, representing over 300 organizations across 20 industries in 18 countries. The 18 findings in the High-Resolution Leadership report draw a very clear picture of what makes a great leader, what leadership skills predict better business metrics, and which personal attributes and skill patterns influence leader success as they move higher.

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